LETTERS: NCT, July 13, 2009

If ignorance is a commodity, then Bettie Heldring
(Letters, June 30)
, you own all of its future contracts. The
Iraq war was/is all about the neoconservative dream to spread
democracy to the Middle East and secure the oil fields of Iraq for
the United States. All the rest is just a pack of lies to justify a
war by a bunch of cowards who (except for Rumsfeld) avoided
military service because they were too busy thinking up ways to get
American soldiers killed to fulfill their dream.

Remember that when all is said and done, the rarest thing on
earth is a neoconservative dead on a battlefield. Bush was not a
neoconservative; he wasn't smart enough. He wanted this war. He
wanted it to impress his father by completing what he thought his
father had left incomplete in Iraq. So 9/11 (an excuse) plus Bush
plus neocons equals war in Iraq.

He did do two things that might be considered a plus for him: 1.
He made his father look like a genius. 2. He fired Rumsfeld and
stopped listening to Cheney. Hopefully he can use this in his
defense before the World Court.

Max Savin

Escondido

Who's driving the bus in Minnesota?

So, nearly eight months after the Minnesota senatorial race
turned into a "Saturday Night Live" showpiece, they finally have a
senator-elect. According to a National Public Radio summary of
actual law and ballots, here's what can be deduced. The law states,
"If a ballot is marked by distinguishing characteristics in a
manner making it evident that the voter intended to identify the
ballot, the entire ballot is defective."

A review of some of the ballots shows a variety of strange
marks, x-ing out of votes and some scratches resembling crop
circles. I conclude that the voters of Minnesota were already in a
deep mental freeze or had spent too many hours ice-fishing in a
closed environment with a defective Coleman heater. …

Mr. Coleman's term expired in January. Mr. Franken has picked up
the seat.

That leaves the months between January and July in some sort of
limbo. My real question is this: Who was driving the bus to St.
Paul then? If they got along well enough without a senator during
that time, why do they need to elect anybody to that seat? My
neighbor, who hails from Minnesota, said simply, "Remember, this is
the state that elected a pro wrestler to the governorship."

Barbara Miller

Carlsbad

Why is Israel support written into law?

Since Dolores Wiener insists on repeatedly bringing up my
objections to United States aid to Israel
(Letters, June 28)
, I will repeat why I question.

Why does the U.S. Congress feel it necessary to write this money
into law when all other foreign aid must be voted on yearly? Since
Israel is the 26th richest country in the world, why is it
necessary to give them any money at all? Most important, why should
we give them money to support a brutal occupation of the
Palestinians which, I believe, is the only cause of worldwide
hatred of the U.S.?